Time for NASCAR to get rid of single-car qualifying

Group sessions one idea to come out of meeting between drivers, officials

Just do it, and stop the monotony of a lone car driving in a circle (or oval) before a sea of empty seats.

NASCAR qualifying might be the most boring exercise in professional sports. Any driver can drive a fast lap on a NASCAR track. The key is what happens when you throw another 42 drivers into the mix, along with hundreds of laps and the requisite pit stops, crashes and weather conditions that all play pivotal roles in deciding the outcome of a race.

One of the concepts bandied about is implementing road-course qualifying, which NASCAR used for the first time in the Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Cars are divided into groups of four or five for qualifying purposes. A car's best lap time during each group session is marked as the qualifying time.

On its two restrictor-plate tracks — Daytona and Talladega — NASCAR is considering implementing a drafting session lasting up to 60 minutes that could set the pole position.

"It's not written in stone," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp told the Associated Press. "We just talked about some ideas that would make things more interesting. ... I'm sure other ideas will come up over the next few weeks."

The idea of group qualifying arose after drivers from the top three series recently met with NASCAR officials for almost two hours at the R&D Center in Concord, N.C. NASCAR did announce the parties agreed to mandatory baseline concussion testing for drivers starting next season.

Victory call:Jeff Gordon did all of the obligatory poses for the photo ops in Victory Lane after winning in Martinsville. The postrace celebration also included a special moment: a conversation with his daughter, Ella.

"She made me cry on the phone because she told me she was crying because she wasn't able to be in Victory Lane," Gordon said. "That kind of stuff makes every win special."

The victory — his first of the year — also invigorated Gordon as he moved into third place in the Sprint Cup standings. Now it's on to Texas, where he will be trying to turn a two-man tussle between Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth into a three-man tug-of-war.

"From where we started early in the season — heck, where we started in this Chase — to be third in points right now, I'm very proud of that," Gordon said. "I can't wait to get to Texas."

Tweet of the week: "I Apologize for the way I acted towards @JimmieJohnson after the race, hard racing and I know the bumper had damage already but not dragging" — Greg Biffle, referring to his postrace dust-up at Martinsville with Johnson.